Holiday Window Boxes III and Giveaway Winner!!!

Every year one of Willow Décor’s most popular holiday posts is Decorating Holiday Window Boxes. Even if your house does not have outdoor window boxes you can use store bought containers to bring the look inside. Here are some new favorites I have collected over the year.

This first window box is beautiful, simple and inexpensive to create. Different pines and boxwood are easily in found out in your yard. Here the owner added blueberry branches and some glass icicle ornaments to add sparkle – Lovely!

From decorator extraordinaire, Martha Stewart, what caught my eye most were the branch trellises she added to hold up the pine branches. What a creative touch which adds so much interest and texture, as well as a wonderful place to thread the bow!

Another simple, beautiful collection of pines and pinecones. This would look as pretty on sideboard in your dining room or mantel as it does outside. Again very low cost to recreate.

Something a bit easier to find for my southern readers; here moss, magnolia leaves and ornaments make a pretty holiday window box.

On of my favorite ideas comes from the Bachman Holiday house in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Here an old shutter creates an indoor window box filled with potted poinsettias and highlighted by a row of birch branches. Simply gorgeous! This is a spectacular mantle piece and would look fabulous in any home!

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Another example of a more southern style here filled with pines, pineapples and citrus fruits. I adore these window boxes! To see more examples of great holiday window boxes read Willow Décor’s previous posts HERE and HERE

Finally, congratulations to 3 Peanuts for winning the German Grainsack Tree Skirt!!! Please send your mailing address to willowdecormail@gmail.com and we will send out the tree skirt in time for Christmas!! A special thanks again to Kym of A Beautiful Mess! If you are not a winner you can still order wonderful items from Kym by contacting her at (805) 630-3727. Enjoy!!!

(Photo Credit: P. Wexford, Bellewood Gardens, 65 Avenue, Container Gardening, Martha Stewart, Bachman's, Home Ideas, Lu Tapp -A Beautiful Mess)

My New Kitchen Slipcovers!!!

Back to school and back to projects that needed to get to done! I am so excited to share with you my new kitchen slipcovers!

Let’s start at the beginning, with two teenagers, a big, hairy dog and an Italian family who loves Marinara sauce; my kitchen was not a perfect environment for my linen, upholstered chairs! We’ve been living with dish towels draped over the seats to catch any spills– not very pretty. I needed some washable slipcovers and I needed them pronto!

As always I had an inspiration photo to show my wonderful seamstress (Photo: Things That Inspire). These were close to what I envisioned. I liked the straight lines and the overall length. I wanted something to cover the chair but not be too fussy.

I also needed the slips to be washable. I found these wonderful oversized napkins from French Laundry Home. I like their “grainsack” look and feel. They were big enough to cover just the seat, so we needed something extra for the skirting piece.

You might remember my wonderful linen blend curtains I found on sale last year at Country Curtains.

I bought extra fabric for $6 a yard and had these wonderful slipcovers made for my club chairs. Read all about my Family Room redo HERE. Fortunately I had enough fabric left to use for the skirting.

Here is the chair before…(not pasta friendly!)

And here is the slipcover after! Large enough to handle any spill and simple to throw in the wash!!

I love the back – I didn’t want any ties.

The hidden Velcro does the trick of keeping it neat and in place.

The bench also needed a bit of covering up. As much as I loved the Antique printed grainsack I bought from Kym Fraser of 3 Fine Grains, it was much too valuable to be stained with hot fudge!

A quick call to my dear friend, Wendy Lewis of Textile Trunk, and a more reasonably priced antique grainsack was on its way. We took out the stitching on both sides, sewed in the corners and added the ties. Look closely and you can see the fold (that was the bottom of the sack) still in the cover.

An indestructible and beautiful slipcover!! You can also see the chairs with their new, pretty dresses peeking through!

The lighting was not the best when I took the picture this afternoon, but I wanted to show you how wonderful the new slips look in the Breakfast Room!

Sometimes it seems daunting to live with linen or all white furniture. Slipcovers are the secret! Your kids can eat hot fudge and still live in a beautiful room without worry.

Do click HERE to see the wonderful new stock of antique fabrics available from Wendy at Textile Trunk. She just got back from Europe and you will go crazy!! And get ready to see some kitchens I have been working on, some reader’s renovations I am thrilled to share and some more personal and professional projects I am starting for the Fall!!

So happy to be back!!

(all photos and content copyrighted by Willow Décor and not to be copied with out written permission)

Quick Updates & Giveaway!!

A quick update about what's been happening at Willow Decor!!

Thanks so much to lovely ladies over at Material Girls for featuring my home renovation on their wonderful new post: Design Bloggers Homes Unveiled - Part II - Make sure you check out all the other fabulous renovations!! And check out Part I, here, to see even more inspiring spaces from both bloggers you know and some new blog discoveries!! The response to the GIVEAWAY of the gorgeous Antique Vellum Book has been overwhelming! If you haven't yet entered please go visit Kym Fraser at 3 Fine Grains and then come back here and comment what item makes your heart sing. Click here to visit 3 Fine Grains and here read more about the GIVEAWAY and to leave your comments!!
Have a Great Day!!

Antique Vellum Books & Our Most Exciting GIVEAWAY Ever!!!

Antique Vellum Books have been used as gorgeous accents in extraordinary rooms for years. Vellum is a fine parchment made from the skin of a lamb, pig or calf. Primarily it was used in the 15th and 16th century to bind books. The skins were stretched over boarding in a way very similar to leather. The luminosity, texture and beauty of Antique Vellum has made it a favorite of designers.

(Architectural Digest via Cote de Texas)

Of course Vellum books have always been popular with the wonderful Furniture and Interior Designer Rose Tarlow of Melrose House. Here in a photo from Architectural Digest in 1991 you can see her love of these precious books.
(Architectural Digest via Cote de Texas)
Here is another angle of the same room. Notice the bookcase filled with Vellum books.

(Architectural Digest via Cote de Texas)

A shot of Tarlow's bedroom, notice the stacks of vellum books. Read a wonderful post about Rose Tarlow and her design aesthetic by Joni Webb of Cote de Texas here.

(Cote de Texas)

Above is a beautiful room from Antique Dealer and Design enthusiast Kay O'Toole. Notice the stacks of antique vellum books on her table. Cote de Texas once again did a wonderful post about O'Toole and her home read more about here.

So imagine my delight when Kym Fraser of 3 Fine Grains contacted me about her new venture into the world of Antique Vellum Books. Apparently, several months before a famous actor had contacted her. He was impressed with her love and knowledge of antiques coupled with her wonderful designer background.

An avid antique collector and design enthusiast himself, he had become the largest collector of Antique Vellum books in the United States. He had designed an exquisite room in his Malibu beach house and filled it with over 800 books. But, unfortunately he was moving and would she be interested in connecting the right designers and antique lovers with these wonderful books for him? It was important to him, that the new owners appreciate the beauty of these rare treasures.

Kym Fraser currently has over 600 of these gorgeous books. They range in age from 1572 - (yes, that is not a typo -books from the 1500's) to the late 1800's. Most books are in written in Italian, French, and Latin, and even some in Hebrew.

The books are varied and all are vellum. Some have ribbed bindings and some flat. Some are embossed in gold and some also have colored leather. Some have marbleized covers and hand painted pages. They are a varied and beautiful collection.

Most books are singular but Kym also has many sets including the most expensive in the Collection - a rare set of encyclopedias from the 1600's. This set of 9 is $13,500.

Of course, they range in price from $150 up - and interestingly the price is not determined by size, but by a variety of markers; including condition, content, outside embellishments, etc.

The photos show just a small sampling of the Vellum Collection.

Perhaps the most intriguing book to me is the one above. Stamped with the date of 1572, this book includes everything that is important to a collector. The book is a collection of the most celebrated passages of Euripides poetry. It has a gorgeous hand tooled cover, and beautiful writing on the ribbed bindings .

Add to that the incredible hand forged metal latches, patina and outstanding condition. This is a very rare book and retails for $5,500.

Here is another book with latches. This beauty is part of Kym's personal collection. She says it reminds her of her beautiful German Grain sacks. Notice the hand painted page edges in blue -Lovely!

Now here is the exciting part!! Kym has offered this wonderful Antique Vellum book to a Willow Decor reader. This book is from 1626 in Venice, Italy. Can you even imagine the Villa it resided in so many years ago??

Written in Italian, the book becomes even more valuable, because of its wonderful condition and the the exquisite flourish on the binding. This antique book retails for over $600.

Here is how to enter to win this antique treasure. Visit Kym Fraser's store, 3 Fine Grains, let me know what other items besides, these wonderful vellum books, that make your heart sing. Leave a comment back here at Willow Decor. For a second chance to win, be subscriber or follower of Willow Decor (you can sign up on the right column).

Next Sunday I will announce the winner! Best of luck!! And a huge thank you to Kym Fraser of 3 Fine Grains for such a generous giveaway. Click here to go check out 3 Fine Grains and then come back and leave your comments. Good Luck!!

(all photos property of 3 Fine Grains unless noted and not to be copied with out permission)